Page 89 of Into the Fire

Drake sighed. “I don’t know where she is right now. Let me make some calls—”

“Fucking tell me!” Dom bellowed. He was on his feet, his face blood red, his chest heaving with the pain and anger he was fighting. “Tell me where the fuck she is, or I swear I will bring hell to your doorstep. I don’t fucking care how long it takes me to find you. I will find you. And you will pay.”

“I’ll be in touch,” Drake murmured. “I promise.”

The line clicked off, leaving us in an ugly silence.

Sickness roiled in my guts as I looked out at everyone. This was my worst fear. It was all of ours. I imagined myself in the kings’ place, hearts shredded as someone they loved was tortured and possibly dead. We’d been through this before. Icouldn’t. . . I just couldn’t do this again if Rosie got involved. It was bound to happen. We took every precaution we could to keep her safe, but so did the kings. Dom was possessive and watchful. And yet. . . I rubbed my eyes, my chest hurting.

Vincent got to his feet and went to Dom, who still stared at the phone, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides.

“Sit. Breathe,” Vincent commanded Dom softly, placing his hand on Dom’s back. Dom didn’t listen though. He turned abruptly and stormed from the room, glass breaking in the distance with his curses and sobs sounding out.

No one moved. We just listened as Dom wrecked a different part of the beautiful log home. I knew we were all locked inside our minds, hoping this same ugly thing wouldn’t come for us someday. Rosie was strong. She was beautiful. Intelligent. But she’d never survive something like this. At least not in a way where she’d have any quality of life. We’d been there through the ugly with her once. She still struggled with it to this day. She needed to be removed from this equation. The thought fucking broke my heart.

When everything finally quieted with Dom, Levin got to his feet.

“I’ll check on him,” he murmured before he left the room.

Vincent nodded and settled back on the couch as he surveyed us. I knew he was still pissed at us about everything we’d done to him, but I’d like to think he was beginning to warm up.

“We’ll find her,” E said gently, the sadness and worry he felt leaking into his voice. “We aren’t giving up until we do.”

“You assholes had Drake under your thumb this whole time and didn’t tell us.” Vincent gave us a sour look.

“We didn’t know if Vasiliev was on the level. Clearly he wasn’t,” I said. “It’s a good thing we didn’t say anything.”

Vincent let out a grunt but said nothing.

“Whether you chose to believe it or not, Drake is a good guy,” E added. “He’s Macy’s cousin. Macy put us in contact with him. He’s wanted out for a long time. He’s never not been trustworthy to us. If he’s asking for time, we give it to him. He might be able to still extract vital information. Drake is well-connected.”

“He’s an asshole who knows where she was, at the very least. Why can’t he give us that information?” Vincent demanded angrily.

“When Drake gives information, that information is always accurate. He’s thorough. Let’s give him the time he needs,” I said, knowing Drake well enough by now to know he really was good at what he did. “He’ll come through.”

“I guess we know a different guy. The Drake I know is a diehard lord, not a fucking snitch.”

“People do what they must to survive. To be free. To save those they love. Drake isn’t any different from the rest of us. If it turns out he’s fucking with us, he dies. It would be a terrible loss, but traitors aren’t kept. They’re killed.” Enzo said, fixing his leather jacket. “If he fucks up, his mistakes won’t go unpunished. I promise this to you, Vincent.”

“You better fucking hope so because I haven’t forgotten what you did to me and B. I just need a reason, Lorenzo. If he gives me one, your ass swings too.”

Enzo cocked his head and gave Vincent a smile. “I promise to enjoy the ride, my friend.”

“And I promise to enjoy the view,” he said, getting to his feet. He left the room, leaving us alone.

“Plan?” Cole asked.

“Fox, call Anson and Rosalie. Check in on her. I’m going to phone my father and Emilio. See if I can figure out a few things. Cole, get some of the guys on standby. E, go smoke something. You look like you’re going to lose your fucking mind. We don’t need that right now. We have a long night ahead of us.”

I glanced at E to see him trembling. Enzo was right.

Cole and Enzo left the room to make their calls as I dialed Rosie.

“Hey, baby,” I greeted her when she picked up.

“Foxy,” she said in her sweet voice. “Is everything OK?”

“Not really. We’re working on things. We’re with the kings in their safe house. We won’t be coming home tonight. We still haven’t found Bianca. We’re waiting for a call back to get more information.” I breathed out. “How are you? You OK? Anson still there?”

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